Fiery Fantasies
by slashersanonymous
Summary: (HSMTMTS Ricky/Big Red) Ricky just broke up with Nini, and now he turns to his best friend, Big Red, for help. He's always been good friends with Big Red, but Ricky's is confused about who he truly loves. Big Red is a loyal friend to Ricky, but BR begins to question why he is so loyal to Ricky; is it friendship, or could it be something more? Rated T for now ;) R&R pls!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: New Year, New Me

It's a crisp morning in September as I ride my skateboard down the sidewalk. The leaves rustle whimsically in the wind, and the breeze gives me goosebumps through my plaid flannel. The rhythmic sound of the wheels going over the grooves in the sidewalk in combination with birds chirping are a symphony. I'm only a few blocks away from East High now, and I start to see people I've gone to school with my whole life: the jocks who peaked in 7th grade gym class, the nerdy scientists who only talk about their homework, and the artsy thespians who talk at least twice as loud as physically necessary.

As I approach East High, I see my best friend, Big Red. For as long as I can remember, he has been Big Red to me - in fourth grade, I called him that once, and he hated me for it. Later that same day, the girl he liked stole the nickname from me, and of course he liked it then, so it stuck. That bitch, Megan. Luckily, she moved away in sixth grade – that's when Big Red and.I became closer friends. We would hang out and watch YouTube together – he'd show me videos about people's strange addictions, and I'd show him videos about Minecraft, and later, Fortnite.

"Hey, Ricky, how's it going?" Big Red asked me when he saw me walking toward the front door, skateboard under my arm.

I just stared at him. My face felt a little hot, and I quickly sputtered "Great. Everything's great."

Big Red looked at me inquisitively. "Even after all the Nini stuff?"

"It's a new year, Big Red. We had a decent break, and maybe we'll get back together. Things haven't changed that much this summer." I said, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Mhm, sure dude," he said while laughing slightly. "No matter what, I got your back."

We walked through the doors of East High, and the chaotic energy was disorienting yet comforting. We were walking over to my locker, and I kept finding myself looking at Big Red. His freckles were especially prominent from the summer sun, and his dorky outfits were strange, yet charming in a way.

_What am I thinking? _I asked myself, _You just broke up with Nini a month ago. You want things to work out with Nini. Right?_

I set my skateboard in my locker, and kept walking with Big Red to our homeroom. We passed the Sharpay Pink Lockers from the High School Musical movies, and as we turned a corner, I stopped in my tracks.

"Yo Nini, what's good?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I can't believe Ricky just did that. My jaw? On the floor.

"Oh, hey Ricky…" Nini said, kind of nervously.

"How was the rest of your summer?" Ricky asked. I stood next to him, internally screaming. Kourtney, Nini's best friend, stared at me fiercely.

"Y'know, it was alright. Theatre camp was exciting…" Nini drifted off. "Look, Ricky, I have something I have to tell you."

It felt like those words silenced the entire hallway. My heart was racing for my best friend, and I could see the fear in his eyes. I wish I could do something, but I know for now it's best to stay quiet. I looked at Nini and Kourtney, trying not to show my worries in the way I carried myself.

"I found someone at theatre camp. He was the Music Man, and I was Marion the Librarian… it's called a showmance." Nini said.

"Oh. A Showmance. We were just on a break -" Ricky said, looking at the ground a little defeated. It was killing me to see him like this.

"Yep. We were on a break, but I found somebody else. I'm sorry Ricky." Nini and Kourtney turned abruptly and walked away, leaving us in the hallway together. Ricky and I walked silently to homeroom together, and his sadness was contagious. I felt bad for the guy; we've been friends for so long, but sometimes it's hard to connect with him. He'll put up this mental wall whenever he's depressed, and I wish I could just get through to him. I could feel his eyes on me, but I was too afraid to look over at him. Seeing him like this hurts.

The bustling halls of East High cleared out slowly as everyone went to their homerooms. Ricky and I stood outside of our classroom, and I turned to walk in, but noticed that he was standing further away, looking into the distance.

"Dude, is everything alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, Big Red, it's… fine. It's just kinda rough right now. I'll meet you in there?"

"Sure, man, take your time. I'll see you in a sec." I said quietly, walking into the classroom. I sat near the back with an open seat next to me. I set my backpack in that seat to save it for Ricky. I just wish that there was something I could do to make him feel better. I was racking my brain for ideas: we could play Fortnite, I could show him the Kibble Girl on YouTube, or maybe we could watch a movie. I have Doritos in the basement, and I could get some comfy blankets down there. Just a little something to try to make him feel happier, you know?

Ricky walked into homeroom a few minutes after the bell rang. He didn't make eye contact with me. I moved my backpack for him so he could sit next to me, but he walked closer to the front of the room, to the third row. He took an empty seat on the end of the row, and sunk into his chair, with a hood over his curly auburn-tinted hair. I tried to remain optimistic; maybe he didn't see where I was sitting? Let's be real, he knew exactly where I was, because we always sit together in the same seats. I let out a soft sigh of disappointment, or was it frustration? I started to type out a text to him: "Hey Ricky, wanna come over tonight?

I locked my phone screen instead.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I felt like I was losing my god damn mind. I was sitting on the floor in the hallway outside of homeroom, and Big Red just went inside. The stuff with Nini sucks, it really does. I was really hoping we were on good enough terms to get back together, but life doesn't always work out as planned, I suppose.

That shit hurts, but you know what hurts worse? When I was walking to homeroom with Big Red after that whole ordeal, and he barely said anything. Granted, I could barely say anything, either, but I just wanted him to say something. Anything. I hate when people ask if I'm alright, because I always feel like people are just taking pity on the sad boy when they ask that. It doesn't feel authentic or genuine.

Big Red couldn't even look at me when he asked if I was alright. Am I really that much of a mess? We've been friends for years, and now even Big Red doesn't want to associate with me? He's such a dork – I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, it's just an objective observation. He's sweet and wholesome, but definitely a little odd. I think his quirks are cute, though, and his smile can brighten up a room like a spotlight.

Did I really just think that? I guess I did. Maybe this whole Nini thing is getting in my head. I don't know, things have been very weird lately. I guess I just want Big Red to notice me. I guess that sounds pretty fucking gay, too. Huh.

I stood up from the linoleum floor of the hallway and slipped in quietly into my homeroom. I shut the door behind me, which caused everyone to turn their heads in unison. Since when is my homeroom full of a bunch of fucking owls? I saw Big Red move his backpack from my seat, but I can't deal with being next to him right now. I could feel his gaze following me as I went to the other open seat near the front of the class. I sat in my chair with an almost inaudible sigh, and felt Big Red's eyes like lasers in the back of my head. My teacher gave me a look that combined a death glare with a look of fake concern. I just put my hood up and sunk back into my chair and watched the seconds tick by on the clock on the wall behind her.

Ms. Atkinson kept rambling about all of the logistics of the coming week at East High, and the routine BS of getting back into the swing of things during the first weeks of school. Mid-sentence, the bell rang, effectively cutting her off. She set down the whiteboard marker she was holding, and started to walk toward me. Quickly, I stood up and turned toward the door and bolted before she could talk to me.

"Ricky!" Big Red yelled from behind me. I turned around, and he shuffled over to catch up with me.

"What was up in homeroom?" he asked.

"It was nothing, dude, I promise. Just a lot going on with the Nini thing, and my mom is in Chicago right now. My dad and I don't know when she's coming back." I said with a shaky tone.

"Oh… I'm sorry, Ricky." He was looking down at the ground and fidgeting with the pop socket on his phone.

I turned to walk away, when he said "Do you wanna come over tonight?"

I spun around and looked at him, and he was smiling and blushing as he spoke. "I just saw this girl from New Hampshire on YouTube, and she says that she's addicted to eating her dog's kibble. Or we could play Fortnite, or watch Up…"

I got lost among all his suggestions. They were kind of weird, of course, but sweet nonetheless. He was still rambling off various ideas, and I touched his shoulder to get his attention. He stopped and looked at my hand, and then looked me in the eyes. We just kinda stood there silently for a second, looking at each other. I could feel myself blushing as I looked at him smiling at me. I pulled him in and hugged him tight.

"See you tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

_**Author's Note:**_** Sorry that this sucks… I wrote this at 12:30 AM. Hehe xD xD :3 Thank you to all of my lovely readers! Thank you to Aimee, Sophie, and Morganne for their love and support as I write this daring fic – one of the first in this fandom! I only know of two others on fanfiction dot net! Thanks to Aimee for the artistic inspiration. Don't like, don't read. M/M (obviously). Please rate and review! 3 **

_See you tonight…_

Those words echoed in my head – I don't know what felt so different about having Ricky come over to hang out. He's over in my basement a few times a week, and we always have a good time. That sounds bad. Oh well!

I had to make sure everything was just as Ricky would like. I don't know why I had this anxiety to impress him all of a sudden, but it just felt necessary. I vacuumed, I washed my mountain of laundry, and I brought down a bag of nacho cheese Doritos and a two-liter of Diet Coke. Only the best for my guy! Why was I suddenly so self-conscious about the presentation of my room? He has been over to my house every week for literally as long as I can remember. But today feels different. I feel like I need to make myself look presentable. I'm just seeing Ricky, not the queen of England! But in this moment, I felt so much anxiety about having my best friend come hang out… not even seeing Zac Efron would make me this nervous. Granted, I've only ever seen High School Musical while at my allergist's office. Zac Efron is a big deal at East High; he's basically God among most students.

_Snap out of it! _I thought to myself. I couldn't let this anxiety get to me. I continued to clean my room a bit more when I heard a knock at the door. I ran upstairs and unlocked the front door. To no surprise, Ricky was standing there. He had changed since I saw him earlier in school. Instead of a flannel, he had a grey sweater with a blue button down underneath it, with khaki slacks. I felt a little underdressed being in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Hey," Ricky said, shivering through a smile in the high desert cold.

"Hey." I said awkwardly. I stepped aside so he could walk inside. He quickly took off his shoes and started down the stairs to the basement. I trailed behind, admiring his outfit and the way his curls bounced a little when he ran down the stairs.

I sat down on my bed, and he sat down next to me. I could sense that he was a little down.

"How's it going, man?" I asked him, knowing the answer already.

"Not great, dude… Not great. I told you about my mom being away. I don't particularly love it when she's out of the house. My dad doesn't know how to cook. His fine cuisine includes instant mashed potatoes and buffalo wings." He looked down at the ground while he spoke.  
"And as if the parent stuff wasn't weird enough, then Nini says we're through, and I saw on Instagram that she's with that E.J. guy from the water polo team. I really thought that what we had could be mended, but I guess not."

Ricky flopped backwards onto the bed, sighing and stretching. I joined him and turned onto my side to look at him.

"You know, Ricky, if you're ever feeling out of place at your house, just remember you're always welcome here."

He said nothing, and kept looking at the ceiling, obviously deep in thought. I could see it in the way his eyes were glued to the light fixture above my bed, and the way his eyebrows furled a little bit.

"Ricky, I know the Nini shit is tough. I thought y'all were on the mend, too. But to be completely honest, you deserve someone better than her. Somebody who will make sure your needs are met, and make sure that you are doing okay. You deserve someone who loves you for you, not for what you give to others."

Again, he said nothing, but he just looked at me and stared into my eyes. I put my arms around him and just hugged him for a bit. He rested his head on my shoulder, and we laid down on my bed for a while. I listened to him breathe; sometimes it was steady, but other times I could feel his breathing becoming more uneven. That was when I would slowly run my fingers up and down his back, occasionally playing with a few of the curls of his hair a little bit.

When his breathing had steadied, he looked up at me with his eyes tinted red. I pulled him a little closer, and whispered, "You'll make it through this, Ricky. It's not going to be easy, but you'll make it through this. Don't forget how much I care about you. I'm always here for you, man."

Again, he didn't speak, but I wasn't frustrated by this. Even when he is silent, I know that he is present. His chocolate brown eyes were locked on my own, and I continued to hold him close as he collected his thoughts and processed his emotions. I can't imagine all that's going through his head with Nini and his parents.

We looked into each other's eyes for what felt like hours. I felt peaceful and at ease with Ricky. His breathing was slow and steady now, and his eyes were no longer bloodshot from tears. The room was dead silent, and all I could focus on was Ricky. I didn't want to let go of him… I felt warm and safe with him. Ricky started to move a little bit. _Shit, he's getting uncomfortable, _I thought to myself. I started to adjust a bit too, scooting away from him. Ricky instead moved a bit closer to me and leaned over. He kissed me, briefly yet tenderly; it felt natural and wholesome.

"Thank you, Big Red."


End file.
